The Albus and Scorpius Guide for Telling People
by LittlePlumTree
Summary: The trouble with large families is the never ending list of people to tell if you suddenly find yourself in a relationship with your best friend of 5 years, who also happens to be a Malfoy. I'm sure Albus will manage, though. He has Scorpius to help him.
1. Chapter 1

The Great Hall was alive with voices and colour, as each house attempted to outdo its opponents by having the most green, blue, red or yellow on show as they possible could. From one end of the table adorned in green, Albus Severus Potter could see the whole Great Hall stretched out before him. He caught the eye of a red-haired Ravenclaw on the other side of the room. He smiled and gave her a little wave, and Rose waved back before the hall hushed and the big double doors swung open.

Down the centre of the Hall, a group of about twenty children progressed toward the weathered old hat sitting on its stool before the teacher's table. Some almost had to run to keep up with McGonagall, and they all looked more than a little nervous.

Albus remembered exactly how that felt.

_Exactly 5 years ago it had been him walking up the row of tables, Rose by his side, overwhelmed with the colour and sea of faces that greeted him. He remembered standing in front of the hat and looking to his left to see a small boy with defined features and blond hair, looking almost, but not quite, as nervous as Albus was feeling. The other boy had caught his eye and lifted one side of his mouth in a half smile. Then, when his name was called, he had joined the table in green with a grin a mile wide. _

_When Albus' name had been called and he'd sat down on the stool, he remembered thinking that even if he was placed in Slytherin, it might not be so bad after all. At least he would have a friend. However, that thought hadn't prepared him for the shock that came when the hat did actually call, "Slytherin!" But I can't be in Slytherin, Mum, Dad, James, they're all in Gryffindor, he thought. _

_And before McGonagall took the hat from his head, he heard it say, "You were always different weren't you, Albus. And don't go thinking that's a bad thing."_

_Not quite knowing what to make of that, Albus slipped off the stool and looked for James' face in the sea of red at the Gryffindor table. He expected a scowl or a mocking expression, so when he caught sight of James' raised eyebrows and knowing smile, it threw him a little. It almost looked like James wasn't surprised. And Albus found himself thinking that he wasn't surprised that James wasn't surprised, and then thought he'd better sit down before all the thinking gave him an aneurism. _

_Sitting down at the Slytherin table next to the blond boy with the nice smile, Albus decided to make the best of it. After a second, there was a whisper in his ear. "Im Scorpius Malfoy, nice to meet you." Albus, surprised, turned and whispered back, "Albus Potter, nice to meet you too." He offered his hand and managed a smile. Of course this boy was a Malfoy. Still, Albus thought, I did just get placed in Slytherin, why not go the whole way and befriend a Malfoy too. So he added, "My friends call me Al."_

Albus was brought back to reality when an elbow nudged his side. Scorpius gave him his half smile. "Remember when that was us?"

Al nodded. "Like it was yesterday."

"You still sorry you were put in Slytherin?"

He shook his head. "I wasn't sorry for long."

* * *

><p>Much later, the tables were cleared and the food had all been eaten. The first years had been led to their respective common rooms by the newly appointed and eager to please prefects, and Al and Scorpious made their way down to the common room. The passage was cold, and when the opened the door, the common room wasn't much warmer. Scorpius shivered and sat down beside the fire to warm up. Al stood behind him, looking into the flames as they jumped and danced in the grate.<p>

Scorpius titled his head up to look at him, and Al smiled. "Game of chess?"

This suggestion only drew a snort from Scorpius, who leaned back against Al's legs and sighed. "Why would I play chess if I know I'm going to lose anyway?"

Al laughed, "True, I do always beat you. Exploding snap then?"

"Now you're talking."

Al moved back to fetch the cards, depriving Scorpius of his backrest and making him fall backwards onto the rug. He lay where he was and watched as Al retrieved a pack of cards from one of the bookshelves on the other side of the room, weaving in and out of the students as they entered through the hall door. He came to sit on the rug beside Scorpius and dealt out the cards.

After almost an hour of playing, and being no closer to deciding a winner, the common room had almost emptied save for a dark haired sixth year reading his book in an armchair, and a pair of fourth year girls playing chess at a table on the other side of the room.

Al yawned and stretched, throwing down his cards. "Alright, you win, now can we go up to bed?"

Scorpius smirked in an irritating way and picked up the cards, only to have them explode right out of his hands again, making him jump. Al sniggered and Scorpius gave him a smack on the arm. "I still won."

"You're still a dick."

"You're still the only Potter in Slytherin."

"You're still friends with me."

Scorpius paused and then said, "I can't work out if that's more insulting to you, or me…"

"Definitely you." The girls on the other side of the room were packing up their game, and the boy reading had marked his place with his finger and was heading out the door.

Albus sighed. "Everyone else is going to bed, come one."

"One more game?" Scorpius was using his persuasive voice, and Al always found that very hard to resist.

In fact, Albus always found Scorpius very hard to resist.

As he looked at the blond boy busy dealing out the cards, he let his mind wander. It was the eyes, he decided. Scorpius had the most brilliant eyes. Stormy grey. Dark in the sun and bright in the moonlight. They seemed to see right through him, and it was a mystery to Al how Scorpius had not figured out his secret. Maybe he had. Without asking, Al would never know, and there was no way he was asking his best friend if he knew he fancied him.

His attention was caught by the flick of Scorpius hair as he shook it out of his eyes. Maybe it was the hair, Al thought. It was pure blond and shiny, and always seemed to be perfectly styled. Well, not at 6 in the morning. Al held a secret delight that he was one of the only people to see Scorpius in his 'just rolled out of bed' state. The hair would be mussed and spiky, eyes bleary, and movements a little unsteady as he makes his way to the bathroom. This isn't the sort of thing a best friend notices, Albus thinks. And for a second, he wonders if Scorpius ever thinks about him that way.

He shakes the thought from his head, and surfaces from his daydream to see Scorpius staring at him, cards held in one hand and expression unreadable. Albus had the terrifying thought that Scorpius had temporarily been given the ability to read minds, but then Scorpius spoke.

"You ok?" His face had shifted to an expression of slight amusement, and Albus gave him a smile and replied, "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"Because you've been staring at me with an exceedingly vacant expression for about a minute now, and I was wondering if someone had stolen your brain." The corner of his mouth lifted in a classic Scorpius smirk, and Al blushed.

"I was just thinking. Sorry. Are you done dealing?" He reached for the cards in the other boy's hand, but Scorpius moved them a little out of his reach.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Just… things. School work and the first years and such." It was a lame argument, and Scorpius did not look impressed, but it was better than saying what was actually on his mind.

"Yeah. Right. You're a terrible liar, Al. Come on, tell me!"

"I can't." It was out before he could stop it, and he quickly bit the inside of his mouth to stop anything else being blurted out."

"You can tell me anything, you know." Scorpius looked entirely like a concerned parent, and the image was almost enough to make Al laugh. But he didn't.

"Not this."

"Don't be silly Al, you know the Malfoy motto, throw enough money at it and of course it can be fixed." The words would have been exceedingly pretentious if they had come from anyone but Scorpius, who made no secret of the fact that he was not entirely proud of his family's methods. His signature smirk was back, and Al gave a snort of laughter.

"Thanks, Scor. But please don't start throwing money at me, or I'll be forced to keep it."

"So you're the problem?"

"I… I didn't say that." Al bit his cheek and looked down.

"You didn't have to."

There was a silence for a couple of seconds, in which Albus found the floor to be a very interesting place to look at, and Scorpius found the top of Albus' head to be a very interesting place to look at.

"Al… If I do something really stupid, will you forgive me?"

Al's head snapped up and he frowned. "Why, what are you going to do?"

"Fix your problem."

Albus gave another snort of laughter. "I highly doubt it."

"So if it doesn't work, we forget the whole thing?"

"What are you talking about, Scor?"

"Just, close your eyes."

"What? Why?"

"Do it!" Scorpius' voice was rougher than usual, and Albus thought it would be easier just to obey and see what happens.

There was silence for a couple of seconds, and then Al murmured, "Scor, whatever it is you're doing, it better not-"

Then his words were cut off as a pair of warm lips pressed against his own, just for a second. Albus jerked backwards in surprise, eyes flying open to see Scorpius kneeling in front of him, eyes worried and biting his lip.

Albus didn't quite know what to say. What do you say to someone you've been best friends with for 5 years just after they kiss you? So he did the only reasonable thing he could think of. He leaned forward and kissed Scorpius back. Lips moved together, and Al's hands found their way to Scorpius' hair, and Scorpius' hands found their way to Al's waist. Scorpius leaned into Al, wanting more contact, more of Albus, and the other boy was pushed off balance, back thudding to the floor with Scorpius crashing down on top of him.

Al felt a bubble of laughter building up inside him, and when he heard Scorpius disgruntled little "Oof," as Al's knee came into contact with his ribs, he couldn't contain it.

They laughed until it felt like they'd forgotten how to stop, Al with his head thrown back and Scorpius with his head buried in Al's shoulder to stifle his own laughter. They were both still lying on the floor in fits when the door from the dorms opened and one of the prefects walked in.

If he found it odd that two of his housemates were lying, breathless from laughing, on top of each other on the hearthrug, he didn't say so. He did, however, tell them to go to bed before he took house points.

"You wouldn't take points from your own house,"Scorpius informed the prefect airily.

"Try me," came the firm reply.

Scorpius hauled himself to his feet and held out a hand for Al. "Alright, alright, were going. Goodnight… sir," he added with a cheeky smile at the unimpressed looking prefect, and the two boys quickly left the room.

* * *

><p>Once up in the dormitory, Albus shut the door behind him with a soft click. Scorpius grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him towards his own bed, shutting the curtains behind them and muttering a silencing charm. He turned to face Albus who was looking at him with an odd expression on his face.<p>

"I feel like the appropriate thing to do now is to push you backwards onto the bed and ravage you, but I feel bad pushing you since you took the fall earlier. You could push me if you like?"

Albus looked at him and quickly sat down on the edge of the bed, raising his eyebrows.

"What!" Scorpius knew that look, and it nearly always led to trouble.

"Why did you kiss me?" Albus voice shook a little, and he looked about to cry.

"Merlin, you're an emotional wreck tonight, Al! I kissed you to solve your problem. It did, didn't it?" Scorpius had a sudden sickening thought that maybe Al didn't want him after all, and he'd made a terrible mistake. "I thought that was what you wanted. I'm sorry."

"Scor, you're impossible. I'm sitting here asking you to confirm that you do actually like me, and you're still managing to act like you've done something wrong."

Scorpius breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank god, I was beginning to think Rose had got something wrong for the first time in her life."

"Wait. What? What's Rose got to do with it!" Al looked confusedly up at him, and Scorpius hastened to back track.

"It's just… well, she told me something about you, after she found out something about me."

Al was silent for a few seconds, as though processing this information.

"So Rose found out something about you, and then told you that I fancy you? That doesn't sound like a very fair deal to me…"

"Well it wouldn't unless you knew what she found out about me."

"Which was?"

"God, you're dense! That I fancy you too!"

There was a silence then. Al looked at Scorpius, who found the carpet to be an appropriate place to fix his gaze. Al was the first to speak.

"Thank fuck for that then. Otherwise this situation would be incredibly awkward, wouldn't it."

Scorpius gave a snort of laughter and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it even more. Al stood up and slipped his arms around the slender boy's waist. He leaned in as if to kiss him, and then gave him a violent shove back onto the bed. Scorpius gave a squeak of surprise, and then Albus was on top of him, kissing him for all he was worth. In between kisses, Albus muttered, "I'm going to hex Rose next time I see her."

Scorpius murmured back, "Okay, but make it a nice hex. We should be thanking her really."

"Nothing like a nice thank you hex to start the day," Albus mused.

After a few minutes of tongues battling and hands roaming, Scorpius pushed Albus off him and took a deep breath.

"What was that for?" Albus' indignant comment made Scorpius smile, and he turned his head to look at the dark haired boy. "We should get some sleep. Classes tomorrow."

"Mmmm… But I don't wanna move." Albus stretched and turned on his side to look at Scorpius, eyelids heavy and hair sufficiently messy.

"Then don't. Sleep right there." Scorpius turned on his side to look back at Al, and bit his lip.

There was a pause, and then Albus said, "Okay."

Reaching over Al to get his wand, Scorpius muttered a quick, "Nox," plunging them into darkness.

"Night, Al." Scorpius reached out a hand to where he hoped Albus' cheek was and stroked it gently.

"Night, Scor," Al replied, raising his own hand to take hold of the one stroking his cheek. "And in the morning, we'll hex Rose together."

"Sounds like a plan. And we'll have to tell the others. James and Lily, Hugo, our friends. Everyone's going to find out someway or other."

Albus took a deep breath. "You're right-"

"As always," Scorpius cut in.

"-we should make a list of everyone who needs telling."

"That's going to be a huge list."

"I come from a huge family. Deal with it."

"I've had more than enough experience to know how to deal with your family, thanks very much." Al could hear the smirk in Scorpius' voice, and he squeezed the other boy's hand.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

**TBC**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: To Be Continued! :D I felt like I hadn't written in way too long, and thought I'd try a different pairing. It was <strong>_Cheryl Dyson _**who introduced me to this pairing, and her stories are completely amazing by the way. :) Albus and Scorpius are my way of dealing with the lack of canon Drarry. If they can't be together, I'll just put their sons together instead :D. But anyway, let me know what you think of this pairing, feedback is always loved. More soon! Love to all who read and review! xx :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Albus awoke early the next morning. Rubbing his eyes against the soft light filtering in around the curtains of his bed, he rolled over to bury his head in a pillow and sleep for a little bit longer. Except, instead of rolling over onto more bed, he rolled right off it and onto the floor.

He landed with a thump on the carpeted floor of the dormitory. Sitting up, he rubbed his elbow and trying to disentangle his legs from the sheets they were still currently wound up in. A blond head appeared over the edge of the bed, hair mussed and grey eyes still bleary.

"Al, what are you doing?" Scorpius, although still half asleep, looked down at his newly appointed boyfriend and tried not to laugh.

Albus climbed back up onto the bed with an indignant huff.

"Well I was trying to roll over, except I ran out of bed."

Scorpius let out a snort and replied, "That wasn't one of your brighter moments."

"You're taking up seven eights of the bed, Scor! It's not my fault there wasn't enough bed left for me to roll over in."

"Seven eights? Not eight ninths? Or six sevenths?"

"Shut up."

Scorpius chuckled and reached an arm out to Al, looping it round his waist and pulling the boy towards him. Albus tried to shrug him off, but Scorpius held him close and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, even the best sort of people fall out of bed sometimes."

Albus laughed in spite of himself.

"What's the time?"

"Time to go back to sleep for at least another hour."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Albus murmured. And with Scorpius holding him close, he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Albus was woken by Scorpius nibbling his ear. He decided he liked this better than the floor alternative, so he let it continue until Scorpius muttered, "Al, either you're an insanely heavy sleeper or you're just enjoying the wake-up call."<p>

Albus sniffed and turned over to face Scorpius, and smiled.

"Good morning."

"Knew you were awake," Scorpius said with a grin.

"Do we have to get up?" Albus reached out a hand to push Scorpius' hair away from his forehead, earning a protesting slap on the hand from the other boy.

"It's Saturday, we could stay in bed all day if we wanted." Scorpius winked, and Albus fought to keep down a blush.

"We should get up." As much as he would have loved to take Scorpius up on his suggestion, he had a bone to pick with Rose Weasley.

"As you wish, your highness," Scorpius joked, and rolled out of bed, Albus following.

The dorm was empty, and a quick glance at the clock told them breakfast in the great hall would be long since finished. They dressed, Albus with a little difficulty as Scorpius kept stealing his clothes and then charmed his shoe to fly around the room just out of his reach.

"Scor, I'm starting to think you like me better when I'm not wearing clothing…"

"Finally catching on, are we?" Scorpius replied with a wink.

Albus caught the shoe and tied it firmly onto his foot. "It's not going to fly away with me still attached to it, is it?"

Scorpius laughed. "Now there's an idea! Don't worry, I'll uncharm it. Much as I would love to see you floating upside-down along the Charms corridor, I don't think the professors would be very understanding."

With long suffering sigh from Albus, they clattered down the stairs and into the Slytherin common room. Various students were gathered around tables or sitting on couches, talking or playing games of both muggle and wizarding origin.

Scorpius looked around him.

"Bit crowded in here, I wonder if there's any food left from breakfast..."

Albus gave a snort of laughter. "Do you ever think about anything but your stomach?"

"My life revolves around two things, Al, you should know that."

"And what might those two things be?"

"Food… and you." Scorpius smirked.

Albus groaned. "That was so cheesy you could grate it and put it on a pizza."

"Mmm pizza…" Scorpius licked his lips. Albus just shook his head and grabbed Scorpius' wrist, pulling him out of the common room and into the hallway.

They made their way along the cold corridors and up a flight of stairs toward to Great Hall. They'd just reached the double doors when they heard a voice.

"Al! Scor!"

They both turned to see Al's little sister, Lily, as she leapt the last two steps of the giant staircase and came towards them.

Albus raised his hand in a wave, and Scorpius called back, "Morning, Lils. Any breakfast left, d'you reckon?"

"I doubt it. We had ours ages ago."

"And you Gryffindors don't by any chance have a secret food stash in your common room, do you? I'm starving."

"What's new, you're always starving. I don't know how you stay looking like a stick, any normal person'd get fat," Lily grumbled, running a hand through her hair.

"Bit young to be worrying about your figure, Miss Lily. Didn't know third years were so grown up all of a sudden. You're hair's looking a lovely shade of red today, too."

Lily demonstrated how 'grown up' she could be by sticking out her tongue. "For the fiftieth time, it's not red, it's strawberry blonde."

With that she turned and made to walk back down the corridor. Albus laughed and called out, "He didn't mean it, Lils. Where is everyone, anyway?"

Lily turned back and gave an impatient little sigh that immediately reminded Albus of the one his mother gave when James forgot to take his Quidditch gear off at the front door and traipsed mud all through the house. It usually meant trouble.

"They're up in Gryffindor. I'll tell you the new password… on one condition."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows and Albus just sighed. "What?"

"You get James to let me borrow his Nimbus 5000 for an hour this afternoon." Lily folded her arms and looked sufficiently smug, and Al gave a very high pitched squeak.

"What's wrong with the school brooms!" He knew it was a weak attempt, but you can't blame a guy for trying.

"Don't be silly, Al. Those things are rubbish."

"How do you expect me to help! James is far more likely to say yes to you."

"I already tried. But don't worry, I thought you'd say that. I have a plan." The look on her face told Al this plan would either lead to certain death, or a very angry James. He didn't quite know which was worse.

Scorpius was looking decidedly impressed with Lily's bargaining skills. "I think I know where this is going. Let me guess, while James is in Hogsmead with the rest of the sixth years, we sneak into his dorm, unlock it from the surely almost impossible enchantments he has it under for protection against… Well, us. You go flying on it for an hour, then we clean it and put it back exactly where we found it. Am I right?"

Lily looked astounded. "That was almost exactly what I was going to say."

Scorpius smirked. "Apparently great minds think alike."

Lily grinned. "I might even have to give up 5 minutes of my hour and let you have a go."

Scorpius grinned back. "Sounds like a deal to me."

Albus gave him a sharp dig in the ribs with his elbow. "Scor! We're not actually going to do this!"

"Aw, come on Al, it'll be fun! Besides, when else are we going to get the chance to ride on a Nimbus 5000! They're even better than the latest Firebolt, and that's saying something."

To be honest, Albus didn't care what the Nimbus 5000 was better than. All he knew was that James treasured that broom more than life itself (which was becoming more and more apparent with each reckless display of flying he exhibited in the monthly house matches.) He would completely flip if he found out.

"No. No way. Final answer, no."

Then he felt Scorpius lean over and then his hot breath on his ear as he whispered.

"Come on, if you help us do this I'm sure I can think of a way to repay you…"

"Since when is it 'us'? This was all Lily's idea, you're just along for the ride. Literally."

Scorpius merely looked Albus up and down, and grinned, raising his eyebrows.

There was a long silence.

"Fine."

Lily and Scorpius both whooped with delight and grabbed Albus' arms, dragging him down the corridor.

Their laughter and Al's feeble protests of, "I'm still not happy with it, and if we get caught I'm telling James and Dad it was your idea…" could be heard echoing down the hallway as they headed for the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

><p>The Fat Lady looked down at the three standing before her with a sigh.<p>

"Oh, it's you two again is it." This comment was directed at Scorpius, who shot what he hoped was a winning smile in her direction, and Al, who shuffled his feet and raised his eyebrows.

Still tutting, the Fat Lady continued. "Why do you insist on letting Slytherins into the tower? Surely their own common room is of living standard." This was directed at Lily, who just grinned and replied, "Yes, but we all know Gryffindor tower is far superior to any other common room."

The Fat Lady seemed to take this as a compliment, puffing out her chest and beaming out at them from her frame. "Oh I do agree, dear. Now, password if you please."

Lily turned to Al and said with raised eyebrows, "So you promise to help me with you know what?"

Al rolled his eyes, "I said I would, didn't I?"

"Just checking, gosh." She turned back to the Fat Lady and announced importantly, "Kneazle whiskers."

Albus and Scorpius looked at each other, and cracked up laughing.

"Kneazle whiskers? The password to the Gryffindor common room is 'Kneazle whiskers'!" Albus choked out.

Lily looked a bit put out and replied indignantly, "Well noone's going to guess that, are they?"

"Too right they're not!" Scorpius shook his head, still grinning.

The portrait had swung open to reveal the warm red of the Gryffindor common room, and the three stepped through the hole. They were greeted with a shout from Hugo, who was sprawled in an arm chair with something looking suspiciously like chocolate sauce around his mouth.

"We wondered why it was so quiet, we were missing Lily! And what did we tell you about bringing in strays?" he said, grinning at Al and Scorpius.

Albus looked around the room which was, unlike the Slytherin common room, buzzing with activity. Students were crowded around tables, doing last minute homework or playing cards. One group had a game of Exploding Snap going, and loud bangs were emitted from that side of the room every few minutes.

Their little group now consisted of Hugo in his arm chair, Rose in her Ravenclaw jersey and a book balanced on her knees, and Lily draping herself over the back of the arm chair. Scorpius flopped down on the couch beside Rose, and pulled Albus down so he was sitting on his lap. Albus laughed and pushed him away, sliding to sit between him and Rose. He gave Scorpius a glare and then turned to Rose.

"Morning Rose, good book?"

Rose looked up, looking surprised to have been pulled out of her own little world.

"Oh, hi Al! Yeah, it's great. Mum gave it to me, it's called 'Hogwarts- A History'. It's fascinating! Did you know-"

Before she could launch into the whole history of Hogwarts, she was cut off by another voice. "Well if it isn't my favourite Slytherins! How's it going Al, Scorpius?"

Fred leapt over the back of the couch to sit on the arm rest beside Rose. She shut the book with a snap and hit Fred over the knee with it. "What did I tell you about sitting on arm rests, especially the ones next to me?"

"If I recall rightly, you said, 'Fred Weasley the Second, if you leap over the back of the couch and disturb my peace one more time today I will hit you over the head with this book.'"

"That sounds familiar…" Hugo muttered from a safe distance, and Rose glared at him.

"So either you run away very fast, or I will stick to my word and hit you with my book."

"You can't go round hitting prefects, Rose, especially ones two years older than you. I'll take house points..." Fred teased, and then caught the look on Rose's face. With a grin, he high-tailed it toward the portrait hole. "Catch you later, guys!"

Scorpius had turned his attention back to Hugo, and was looking, puzzled, at the jar in his hands. Hugo was holding a spoon and eating the… whatever it was, straight out of the jar.

"Hugo… What is that?"

Hugo looked up in surprise. "This? Oh, it's Nutella. It's muggle. You put it on toast and things. Like a kind of chocolate jam. Try some?"

Scorpius raised his eyebrows and took the container from Hugo's outstretched hand. He dipped his finger into the chocolaty spread and the licked it.

"Wow. That… that is like eating heaven."

Albus reached out a hand for the jar, and Scorpius moved it away.

Al gave him a reproachful look. "It's nice to share, Scor."

"If you tasted this, you wouldn't share either." He took another lick and then, using a different finger, scooped some more out. Before Albus could move away Scorpius had lunged forwards and smeared the Nutella across Al's cheek.

Al's mouth fell open in shock. Rose looked up from her book and stifled a giggle, and Hugo had his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Lily didn't bother to keep it in, and burst out laughing at the sight of Albus with chocolate all over his face.

Albus made a sudden grab for the jar, and was very surprised when it came free from Scorpius' hand without a fuss. Scorpius looked at him, dare written all over his face. Al carefully dipped a finger into the jar, and licked a little bit off. It was absolutely delicious. He took another careful finger load and then, quick as lightning striped it across Scorpius' cheek. There was a silence as everyone waited with baited breath for Scorpius' next move.

A slow smile spread across Scorpius' face, and he made a sudden grab for the jar. Al was too quick for him though, and thrust the jar at Hugo, who tossed it to Rose who acted like it was a ticking bomb and threw it at Lily, who tore across the room with it, Scorpius in hot pursuit. He caught up with her and grabbed her around the waist, and carried her, still struggling, back to the group. He dropped her down on the floor next to the couch and laughed at her pouting expression.

"Enough with the Nutella fight, it's too good to waste!" Hugo held out his hand for the jar and Lily reluctantly handed it over.

"Who says we're wasting it?" Scorpius laughed, sitting back down on the couch beside Al.

"Well half of it is on yours and Al's faces, and I'd like to see you eat that."

Scorpius' face spread in a slow smile, and he leant over. With a slow deliberate movement, his tongue connected with Al's cheek. Al's face was a mixture of surprise, horror and amusement as the others watched. Lily was in fits of laughter, Hugo was laughing so hard he missed his mouth with the spoon full of Nutella and got quite a bit of it on his nose, and Rose was hiding behind her book, giggling incessantly.

When all traces of Nutella had gone from Al's cheek, Scorpius sat back, looking rather pleased with himself. "What were you saying about not being able to eat that, Hugo?"

Hugo nodded, still not being able to talk. Albus sniggered and said, "Well I'm not licking it off you, so you can forget that idea."

Scorpius put on an exaggerated disappointed face and stuck out his bottom lip. Albus laughed.

Then, Scorpius came out with something Albus definitely wasn't expecting.

"Oh and by the way you lot, me and Albus are dating."

There was a short silence, and then Rose threw down her book with a grin.

"At last! Gosh, you two are more stupid than I gave you credit for. How long did it take you to figure it out? A year? Two?"

Hugo grinned and said, "We figured you would be soon enough."

Albus was still sitting there in shock, and Scorpius was looking a little worried about the fact that he was the only worried one.

"You're not surprised?"

Rose laughed. "Well you act like a couple anyway, so nothing's really changed!"

Albus sputtered in to life then. "How do we act like a couple!"

Hugo joined in then. "Have you seen yourselves? You can't even stand next to each other normally, one has to be draped over the other or you have your arms slung around each other's necks."

Scorpius and Albus looked at each other. Now that they thought about it…

"Besides the fact that licking Nutella off each other's faces isn't the most heterosexual activity in the world…" Hugo said with a smirk.

Rose nudged Al in the side and smiled at him.

"Well, I'm happy for you. And no need to thank me, but I have a feeling something I said to Scorpius yesterday might have had something to do with it..?"

Scorpius smiled, "Thanks Rose."

"Like I said, don't thank me. Though what you lot would do without me, I don't know."

"The world would most likely collapse," Hugo said seriously. Well, as seriously as you can get through a mouthful of Nutella.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So hope that chapter lived up to expectations! :D I have a feeling this fic will be the longest I've done yet, which isn't really saying much, but still ;) Reviews are always appreciated, and I hope you stick around to read the next part! :) Not sure when it will be up, some time after my english exam the day after next... *must study must study* Anyway, thank you for reading, love to all who review! xx <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

On the other side of the common room the door to the dormitories flew open, and a group of sixth years strode into the room. At the front of the group was James, brown hair looking as though he'd spent at least ten minutes in front of the mirror that morning making it look just the right amount of messy. All eyes were drawn to the group as they entered the room, and James looked suitably smug. His group followed him as he headed for the portrait hole, and the chatter died down a little as the other students turned to look.

Then, Lily called out, "Hey James, I got a letter from Mum this morning. She says to tell you to eat your vegetables and that she loves you."

James turned a horrified face to where Lily was sprawled out on the couch, looking decidedly smug. The room was almost silent, waiting for James' response. One of James' friends wasn't doing a very good job holding back his laugh, and James turned on him with a glare. Turning back to Lily and the others, he rearranged his horrified face into a pleasant half-smile.

"Thank you Lily dearest, do write back to Mum and tell her I am eating my vegetables, and that I send her my love."

And with that, he and his group swept out of the room.

The common room was left in awed silence, and Albus gave a snort of disapproval.

"How does he manage to leave a room hanging on his every word, when the last sentence he uttered was along the lines of, 'Send my love to mum'?"

Lily was not looking quite so smug now that James had called her bluff, and Scorpius and Hugo were laughing uproariously in their respective armchairs.

"He's sure got the measure of you, Lily!" Scorpius pointed out helpfully, once they had finished laughing, and this comment did nothing to sweeten Lily's expression.

Albus sighed and tipped his head back onto the back of the couch. "I don't know how he manages it. He's just so effortlessly… cool."

Scorpius nudged him in the side. "Sounds to me like someone's a bit jealous," he said with a cheeky smile in Al's direction. Albus just gave a non-committal grunt in reply.

"Don't worry, Al, I still like you best." Scorpius winked, and Rose smiled into her book.

* * *

><p>You see, it wasn't every day that Rose's matchmaking attempts worked out. This could possibly be because this was her first attempt, but she considered it to be a success. Although, she reflected, all Al and Scorpius needed was a bit of pushing. Poor Al would have never had the guts to tell Scor, and Scor would have been quite content working his way through the female population, and wondering why it was Albus that he sought out at the end of it all. No, they were made for each other, that was for sure. Rose was just glad she could be of help.<p>

As she reached the end of her chapter, she glanced up to see that Albus had sprawled out sideways along the couch, knees tucked up so as to not disturb her, with his head in Scorpius' lap. Scorpius ran idle fingers through Al's fringe, and they both looked content just to lie there in each other's company. As Scorpius looked down and caught Al's eyes, they stared at each other for a minute until Al cracked a smile, mirrored by Scorpius, and then laughed and looked away.

Rose felt a quiet pang of jealousy, not for either of the boys, but for the kind of relationship they shared. It would be nice, she thought, to have someone like Al has Scor, and Scor has Al.

She shook her head slightly as she watched Scor run his finger down Al's cheek and rub off the last little smudge of Nutella, then hold his finger out for Albus to lick, which he did, dutifully. Rose could almost feel her teeth rotting with the sweetness, and quickly turned back to her book.

* * *

><p>It was Lily that pulled the two boys out of their little world on the couch, where no one existed but each other and that little smudge of Nutella. She yanked a cushion out from behind Hugo and threw it at them.<p>

"So are we doing this, or what?"

Al rolled his eyes, and his stomach filled with dread at Lily's words. He could see this all going very, very wrong, but there was no way out now.

Scorpius leapt up off the couch, dislodging Albus in the process. He sprawled onto the floor with a loud, "Ooof," and then reached up to take the hand Scorpius held out to him.

Lily jumped up and headed for the door to the dormitories, but not before Hugo called out, "Where are you going?"

She turned back with an impatient sigh, as if the answer should be obvious to anyone with half a brain. "James' dorm. Duh."

Hugo's eyebrows shot up, and he bit his lip. "I thought you were kidding!"

"Why would I be kidding? Besides, Scorpius and Albus said they'd help me. What can go wrong?"

Scorpius grinned as he made his way across the room dragging Albus behind him. "That's the spirit, Lils. Now come on, were using valuable flying time!" And with that, the three students, albeit one rather reluctantly, exited the common room.

* * *

><p>James' dorm was, surprisingly, moderately tidy. There were clothes folded on the bed and an open trunk holding barely contained Quidditch gear at its foot, but all in all it was not half as bad as Scorpius and Al's dorm. Looking around the room, Rose spotted what she was after.<p>

Unlike many of the other students, James did not keep his precious Nimbus 5000 in the school broom shed. It had its own place of residence under his bed, and Lily's eager eyes spied the end of the handle as it peeked out from underneath. With a cry of, "Aha!" she leapt forward and seized the end of the handle. She gave it a pull, but the broomstick didn't budge.

Scorpius laughed. "You did think it would be that easy, did you? James isn't stupid, he'll have enchantments for Africa around that thing."

Lily huffed and straightened up. "Can you un-enchant it?"

Scorpius looked at Albus. Albus looked at the ceiling.

"Oh come on Al, you're the charms genius here! You can outsmart James any day."

Al gave a sigh and crouched down beside the bed, looking determinedly at the broom. Flattery will get you anywhere, he thought. He gave the handle of the broomstick a bit of a tug, and then reached for his wand.

"It's probably some sort of Sticking Charm." He waved his wand and muttered a few words, and then the visible section of the broom began to glow red. Albus stepped back at once, but the colour faded after a few seconds.

"Oh! I know what that is!" Scorpius turned an excited face toward Al, "It's like a password extension to the sticking charm! Only someone who knows the password will be able to un-stick the object."

Al groaned. "Well how in Merlin's name do we guess his password? It could be anything, and knowing James it will be something suitably obscure."

Lily, who had been quiet after Scor's revelation, suddenly smiled a slow, pleased smile.

"I know what it is."

"What?" cried Al, just as Scorpius shot back, "How?"

"I heard him in his room a few weeks back, I was passing his door and stopped to look in at what he was doing-"

"Nosy…" Albus remarked.

"-and he was pointing his wand at something out of sight, and he said something. I thought he was just being silly, or making up some sort of charm or something! Now aren't you glad I was born nosy?" She finished with a sly smile.

"So what was it?" Scorpius demanded, impatient.

"Fish fingers."

There was a silence.

"Seriously? The password to James' most prized possession is, 'Fish Fingers'?" Al looked at her doubtfully.

Lily looked affronted. "Why would I lie! Try it!"

"You say the spell to unlock it, and when it goes red, say the password," Scor informed him.

So, raising his wand, Albus pointed his wand at the broom. He muttered the spell and, as the broom glowed red, said clearly, "Fish fingers."

The glow around the broom turned green, and Lily dived forward, grabbing the broom and pulling it out from under the bed.

"It worked. I cannot believe that worked," Al muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Scorpius grinned and clapped him on the back. "Now let's get it outside!"

They hurtled down the stairs, Lily holding their prize aloft. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and then Lily paused at the door and turned.

"I think the less people that know we're borrowing it, the better. So, you two need to distract Hugo and Rose while I sneak around the edge with the broom."

Al and Scorpius looked at each other. Lily certainly knew how to boss people around.

Al frowned. "How do we do that?"

"Use your imagination!" Lily replied in an exasperated voice.

Al sighed and closed his eyes, and tried to use his imagination. When he opened them again, Scorpius was grinning.

"I know just the thing."

And with that, he gave the door to the common room an almighty push and strode in with a cry of, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!"

Albus grinned. If he knew Scorpius, and boy did he know Scorpius, this was going to be good.

**TBC ;)**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So hope you like the new chapter. I know it's quite short, but I thought I'd better give you something since it's been a while since I updated! Sorry! I would like to say it's because I've been studying... but we all know that's not true ;) No more excuses, I'll have the next one up as fast as I can! Then we can find out just what Scorpius has planned... Hehe ;) Love to all the people who read and review! xxx<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Scorpius entered the room with a crash as the door flew back on its hinges and slammed into the wall. Heads turned to look at the blond, and he smiled what he hoped was his most charming smile. Making his way over the one of the empty tables, he leapt up onto it and turned to face his somewhat surprised audience.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between!" At the door to the common room, Albus dropped his head into his hands and gave an inward groan. Scorpius continued.

"It has come to my attention that in the Ravenclaw common room, it is common practise, excuse the pun, to have a nightly comedic act to lighten the mood and enrich the mind. I hereby propose that my charismatic self, tells a few well selected jokes to make the atmosphere in this room one of jovial excitement and content."

The few Gryffindors that actually understood a word of what Scorpius had just said rolled their eyes or gave amused snorts of disapproval. From his spot by the door, Albus just shook his head.

Meanwhile, Lily had set off around the common room taking the longest route to the door, behind the turned heads of those now watching Scorpius. Albus made his way into the room as well, letting the door fall behind him. Slipping into a chair at one of the tables, he looked back to Scorpius.

Scorpius threw his arms out and addressed the room.

"Now, who can tell me what happened to the butcher who backed into the sausage machine?"

There was an expectant pause.

"He got all behind in his work!" Scorpius declared with a flourish of his arms, trying to contain his own laughter. Some of the students did laugh, or give amused little half-smiles. Some didn't and just looked at the blond on the table as if he had gone mad. He probably had. Albus let his head fall onto the table top with a thud.

Seeing that his joke had been met with various forms of approval from at least half of the common room, Scorpius decided to forge ahead.

"How about the man who tripped and fell into the upholstery machine?"

There was another silence, in which some of the students tried to guess what was coming, and some just looked confused.

"He is now completely recovered!"

This joke brought a few more laughs and smiles, and Scorpius looked suitably smug. Lily, by this stage, had made her way around the room and was waiting by the portrait hole. However, Scorpius was having way too much fun to stop now.

"Now, how about-"

But Albus decided he'd had quite enough of Scorpius' bad jokes, and he pushed back his chair with a squeak. Scorpius looked down at where Albus was standing with an impatient expression on his face, and grinned.

"Ah, Al, have you come to tell a few jokes?" He smirked and quirked an eyebrow, knowing full well what Al was trying to communicate to him and ignoring it anyway.

He reached down a hand and offered it to Albus, who took it warily. With a mighty pull, Albus was yanked up onto the table besides Scorpius, almost sending them both flying.

"For my last act for tonight, ladies and gentlemen, and all things in between, I have an assistant."

Lily had not yet exited the common room, but was leaning against the wall by the door. She was looking slightly impatient, and although she was doing a good job of trying to hide it, amused.

Back up on the table, Scorpius threw an arm around Al's waist.

"Al, I think it is time to give the people what they want."

Albus didn't have time to contemplate exactly what Scorpius meant by that, because next thing he knew, Scorpius' lips were on his and he was being kissed to within an inch of his life. After a few long seconds, Al's brain engaged.

With a shove, he pushed Scorpius off him and grabbed his hand, leaping down from the table and pulling him with him. He pushed through the groups of students to get to the door, where Lily was doubled up with silent laughter. Then, when they were halfway across the room, there was a loud cheer. The other students joined in and soon the whole room was clapping and cheering loudly, as Al continued to drag along a very pleased looking Scorpius, who was bowing and tipping an imaginary hat as he was dragged from the room.

* * *

><p>Once out in the corridor, Albus leant against the portrait hole, blushing and breathing hard. Scorpius was grinning, and Lily was still laughing.<p>

"You should have seen your face, Al! Merlin, I'll never forget how surprised you looked when Scor kissed you!" She dissolved into hysterics again, and Al glared at Scorpius.

"What was that all about? You weren't content with telling terrible jokes, so you had to drag me up there to be snogged in front of the whole common room?"

Scorpius just laughed and slipped an arm around Al's waist. "You loved it. The bad jokes, the snogging, you loved every second of it."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because I did it, and you love me. And besides, it now means there are around twenty Gryffindors who we don't need to tell!"

Albus found it hard to argue with that statement, so he just leant into Scorpius' side and groaned.

Lily had started off down the corridor, holding the broom aloft and doing what she probably imagined was a victory dance, but to Albus looked more like a flamingo having a seizure.

"Come on you two, do you want to fly it or not?" she called back, her voice echoing down the hall. Scorpius pushed himself off the wall, arm still around Al.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Scorpius said with a winning smile.

Albus highly doubted it.

* * *

><p>It was with a face-full of sunshine that the three were greeted, as they stepped from the front doors of the castle. The grassy slope down to the lake was littered with students and as they walked down the path to the Quidditch pitch, Al was stopped by a shout. He looked round and saw a tall, good looking 7th year walking towards him.<p>

"Oh, hey Louis," Albus raised a hand in greeting as Bill and Fleur's youngest son came toward him, grinning.

"Hey Al, Scor. Morning Lils. Where are you lot off to?"

Albus stole a look at Lily, who was trying her best to hide the broom behind her back. Louis, being a prefect, would probably not be too happy if he worked out whose it was and how they had acquired it.

"Just down to the Quidditch pitch, we were going to borrow some school brooms and go for a fly," Albus lied.

Louis nodded, and then turned to Lily.

"And how are you, Miss Lily? Did you know you're the spitting image of your mother? Dad was showing me pictures of him and Aunty Ginny, and I almost swore it was you in the photo!"

Lily didn't quite know whether that was a compliment or not, so she just smiled and nodded, and put a hand up to flatten her hair.

"Whose broom is that, by the way? I didn't know you had a Nimbus 5000! Doesn't James have one like that?"

Lily looked panicked and opened her mouth to say something, but Scorpius got there first.

"Louis, since we're telling everyone today, I'm sure you'll be interested to know that me and Al are dating. Finally." Scorpius sent a cheeky wink in Al's direction, and a Louis' face broke into a smile.

"Finally is right! Dominique and I had a bet going, guess she owes me 2 galleons!"

"You were betting on us!" Al squeaked.

"Hey, so were Victorie and Ted!"

Scorpius laughed, "See Al, at least we gave people a bit of entertainment!"

Al just rolled his eyes, and Louis clapped him on the shoulder.

"Well, I'm happy for you. Can I tell Vic and Ted, too? I'm seeing them at the weekend. Oh, and Dommy?"

"Go right ahead, it saves us telling them!" Scorpius smiled and slung an arm around Al's shoulders.

"Louis!" From across the grass, they could see Roxanne, Fred's sister and youngest child of George and Angelina Weasley. She made her way over to the little group, and Lily huffed to herself. At this rate she wouldn't get to fly the damn broom at all!

"Hey guys, how's it going?" The 5th year greeted them all with a smile as she came up.

It was Louis who replied, grinning at Al and Scorpius as he did so. "Hey, Rox, you'll never guess. Actually, you probably will. Go on, guess!"

"Scor and Al have finally come out?"

"Got it in one," Louis grinned.

Albus slapped his hand to his forehead. How many people had known about this even before he had?

Scorpius laughed and gave him a squeeze. "Well sorry to rush off, but I think Lily wants to get down to the pitch before the other 7th years get back and want to use it."

Albus hid a smile at Scorpius' easy lie, and nodded in agreement. "Catch you later, Louis. Bye Roxanne."

With a chorus of goodbyes, they went their separate ways. Lily ran on in front, and Scorpius took Al's hand.

"I had a feeling that today was going to be a good day, as soon as I woke up."

Albus smirked. "How do you figure that today has been a good day?"

"Well so far, I woke up beside you, I hijacked a broom, I told some of my best jokes to an attentive room of Gryffindors to hearty applause, and I get to spend the rest of it with you." Scorpius turned his head to look at Al, and he smiled.

Albus didn't say anything, but squeezed Scorpius' hand. And Scorpius squeezed back.

**TBC**

* * *

><p><strong>To all the people that reviewed, thank you so much! For some reason, the site is being silly and saying the reply page does not exist... So I haven't been able to reply to your reviews! :'( But to all that have, I appreciate it so much :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter, next one will be up soon! xx<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

The grass on the pitch tickled the backs of Al's legs, and he shifted position. Scorpius, sitting beside him, had his gaze fixed on a small figure shooting from one end of the Quidditch pitch to the other at an alarming speed.

"If she falls off, were all dead," Al muttered, but Scorpius just laughed.

"She's not going to fall off. Look at her go! Looks like James isn't the only Quidditch protégé in the family." Then he caught site of Al's slightly bitter expression. "I didn't mean it like that Al, you're the smart one! You know James can't transfigure a goblet to save his life, and Lily would blow a brain cell if she was forced to sit through more than an hour of Charms at a time."

Albus just bit his lip and looked at the grass.

Scorpius picked a couple of pieces of the grass and attempted to weave them together.

"Besides, I always preferred the quiet, smart ones." Scorpius nudged Al in the side and wiggled his eyebrows, and Al couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Well, lucky for you I always had a thing for blonds," Al shot back, lifting his head to look at Scorpius.

They each held their gaze for a moment longer than normal, and Scorpius leant in and placed a soft kiss on Al's lips, moving his lips gently against Al's. This kiss was different to the one in the common room. That kiss had been fierce and possessive, and screamed_ back off, mine, all mine. _This kiss was soft and sweet, filled with unsaid words and quiet promises. Al kissed back passionately, losing hold of his last train of thought and letting Scorpius take over.

Scorpius pulled away much too soon for Al's liking. The blond's face lit up in a smile, and he reached out to brush a piece of hair off Al's forehead.

"You're so cute, you know that?"

Al blushed and raised one eyebrow. "I'd prefer to be handsome, or even dashing. Cute sounds like a puppy."

"Yes, but puppies are my favourite animal!"

"I thought Hippogriffs were your favourite animal?"

"As of now, they are my second favourite." Scorpius raised a hand to shade his eyes from the sun and looked back up at the sky. Lily was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Al… not to alarm you or anything, but where did Lily go?"

Albus' head shot up and he searched the sky for a small, red-headed figure. He didn't find one.

"Oh Merlin…" he groaned, scrambling to his feet.

"Hey, calm down, she's probably just gone for a fly over the castle, she'll be back in a minute. Sit back down."

Al shook his head. "I specifically told her to stay above the pitch! This is so typically Lily!"

He started off towards to castle, and Scorpius sighed and got to his feet to follow.

"Al, calm down, I shouldn't have said anything! Lily can look after herself alright."

"You don't know that!" He rounded on Scorpius with an expression so fierce Scorpius took a step back in surprise.

"Calm down, Al, we'll find her."

Al just turned back around and had started to walk back up the path to the castle, when they both heard a shout.

"Hey, where are you two going!"

Both boys wheeled around to see Lily, broom held over her shoulder, making her way up the path towards them.

Al leapt forward and dashed towards her, wrapping her in a hug. Lily looked surprised, but hugged back. Scorpius, as he made his way over, caught the last words Al muttered to her.

"-thought it was happening again."

Lily was holding onto her brother tightly, and to Scorpius it looked almost as though it was Lily doing the comforting, instead of the other way around.

Al let go of Lily when Scorpius came up to them, and gave him a little smile.

"Scor, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I was just… worried. You were right. It was silly. Sorry."

Scorpius shook his head, smiling. "It's ok, I guess I wasn't being much use on the searching and comforting front…"

Al just chuckled and turned back to Lily.

"So, are you going to let Scor have a turn?" Lily sighed and reluctantly handed the broom over into Scorpius' eager hands.

"I suppose. It really is amazing. I think borrowing it might have to become a regular thing."

When she caught the expression on Al's face, she laughed.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

Scorpius looked at Al. "Am I exempt from that, 'No flying outside the pitch' rule?"

Al just rolled his eyes and nodded. "Go on then, meet you down there."

With a grin, Scorpius mounted the broom and kicked off from the ground. With a whoop, he soared into the air and quickly became just a figure on a broom, gliding towards the Quidditch pitch. Al and Lily followed slowly, talking and kicking stones along the path.

When they reached the pitch, Scorpius was flying close to the ground, skimming the grass with the toe of one shoe, and then pulling the handle back up again to soar upwards. Al watched him, mesmerised. Scorpius on the ground was spectacular enough, but Scorpius on a broom was simply amazing. Lily flopped down on the grass at his feet and started pulling out handfuls of grass. Piling it up, she began making a small mountain of grass. Albus didn't notice, his eyes firmly fixed on Scorpius.

After a few minutes, Scorpius returned to the ground again. He came towards them holding the broom, grinning triumphantly.

"That was amazing. I can see what you mean, Lils. It's something else completely! Al, are you having a go?"

Al didn't hesitate before shaking his head. "No thanks."

"Why not? Come on, it's fun!"

Al just looked away and shook his head again. "I don't really do flying."

When Scorpius thought about it, as he did just then, he realised he had never seen Albus on a broom. Not in all their years at school had he seen him even a meter off the ground. He had always assumed that Al was just not interested, but looking at him now, he swore he could see a little fear in his eyes. He decided it was better not to push the matter, so he just smiled.

"Whatever you want then. I suppose we'd better get this thing back, anyway."

Al looked relieved that Scorpius hadn't pressed him further, and nodded. "James' lot will be back soon. And we still have to get back through the common room…"

Scorpius grinned hopefully. "Maybe it will require a repeat of this morning?"

With a groan, Al shook his head. "No. Way. Never again."

Laughing, Scorpius led the way back up the path towards the castle, swinging the broom as he went. Al slung an arm around Lily's neck, and the three started the journey back to the castle, the common room, and an unexpected surprise.

xxxx

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry it's short, but it felt right to leave it on a cliff hanger ;) Ill post the next part over the next couple of days. Don't hate me! ;) Big thanks to Jane (JagBdB), for motivating me to put the next part up! And thankfully, it's letting me reply to my reviews again! Thank you to all who did, and all who will :) xx<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

When the door to the common room was pushed cautiously open by a not-very-quiet Lily, it revealed an almost empty room. Sighing with relief that no more spontaneous jokes or snogging were required, Al ushered Scorpius and Lily through the portrait hole and they made their way to the door on the opposite side of the room. A few cursory glances were shot their way by a 5th year, sitting at a table with her nose buried in a book, but the other occupants of the room took no notice of them. Not that it would have mattered anyway, thought Al. Scorpius could probably talk them out of any awkward questions on the origin of the broom.

As they climbed the stairs, Al stole a glance at Lily. She held the broom close to her and climbed the stair a little reluctantly, and Al could tell she was loath to return the broom just yet. They were cutting it close as it was, however, as the 7th years were due to return any minute.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Lily shoved open the door, and as it swung back on its hinges, hitting the wall, the three stopped dead.

James was sitting on his bed.

For a moment, Al considered backing out the door and shutting it quietly behind him, and then running for his life. Hell, he could take the broom back and fly for his life, if it came to that. His mind was whirling. Why was James here? The others weren't back yet, were they? Had he known all along that they had the broom? What was he going to do? Just how angry was he? Would he tell their parents? And for the love of Merlin, why had nobody said anything yet!

Finally, it was James who broke the silence.

"Good morning."

Albus swallowed hard. James always managed to un-nerve him. He had the poker face down-pat, and reading his mood was proving to be a near impossible task.

Lily, who Al would later muse should really have been placed in Slytherin instead of him, did the first thing that came into her head.

Her face crumped with fake tears, and she began to sniff loudly. Then, she dropped the broom down beside the bed and threw herself at James' feet. With her face screwed up and lip trembling, she proceeded to sob loudly.

"I'm sorry James, I know I should have asked, but it's such an amazing broom and I thought you'd be mad, and you're the best big brother in the world, and please please don't be mad at me-"

In the doorway, Al looked at Scorpius, who was mirroring his expression of horror and ever so slight amusement. James looked down at the small red-haired mess before him, and held up a hand.

"Lily Luna Potter. I have lived with you for 12 years. Don't you think I can tell when you're faking it? In fact, I believe it was me that taught you that trick. Besides, aren't you a bit old for that now?"

Lily sighed and got heavily to her feet. Sulkily, she pulled a face and muttered, "Worth a try…"

James bent down and picked up the broom. Al was still wary, knowing how fast James' mood could change. He gets that from Mum, he mused. However, a shouting match did not seem to be on the cards that day, and James merely sighed again and looked at Al.

"I can't believe you, Al."

Oh great, here comes the guilt trip, thought Al.

Scorpius piped up then. "James, it's not Al's fault. It was me and Lily. Well mostly Lily-"

An enraged expression from Lily stopped Scorpius in his tracks, and he amended, "-but I was meant to be the responsible one. Well, me and Al, but Al didn't want to do it in the first place, we had to talk him into it, well, Lily did, but I helped, and-"

"Scorpius, correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think Malfoys babbled." James raised an eyebrow and looked right at Scorpius, who stopped in his tracks and shut his mouth with a snap.

"I don't blame you, Scor. You can wait for Al downstairs in the common room if you like. I want to talk to him for a bit."

Scorpius turned a worried face to Al, who swallowed hard and nodded. "I'll be down soon."

Without a backwards glance, Scorpius fled the room, door banging behind him.

Sighing, James turned back to Lily. "Look, Lils. It wasn't right to take the broom, and I should tell Dad." Lily let out a whimper at the thought, not because their father was such an imposing figure, but because he would likely tell their mother…

"But I won't," James continued. "This time."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned at James. "James, you're the best brother ever." Then she remembered Al, and added, "Well, you're tied with Al, anyway."

"Go downstairs and play a game of chess with Scorpius or something, I want to talk to Al."

Lily practically skipped across the room, slipped past Al, and out of the door. Al heard her footsteps dying away as she descended the stairs.

Leaving the door way, Al moved sideways to lean against the wall and waited for James to speak. Instead, James just lay back on the bed and sighed. Taking a deep breath and feeling like a criminal heading for his own execution, Al spoke.

"How did you know we took it?"

James gave a snort and sat up. To Al's alarm, he looked slightly amused. "You didn't think I'd leave it with a simple password charm to protect it, did you?"

The corners of his mouth turned up and Al relaxed slightly.

"I put an movement-sensing charm on it, too. If the broom is unlocked, my watch heats up. Genius, if I do say so myself."

Al had to admit that was rather clever. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

James continued, "So when my watch went hot all of a sudden, I told the others I'd forgotten my wallet and came back up here. Well, I would have, if I hadn't seen three people on the Quidditch pitch, all engaging in something I wasn't quite expecting."

Swallowing in an attempt to bring moisture back into his mouth, Al replied, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Lily is in the air, flying around at an alarmingly high speed on a broom I seemed to recognise, and the two boys who should probably have been in charge of her safety were busy making out on the grass."

Al let his head fall back against the wall. Of course, leave it to James to find out in the worst way possible. Before he could respond, however, James was talking again.

"Congratulations, by the way."

Al's head snapped back up to look at his brother. "What?"

"Congratulations. On you and Scor. I must say I had my doubts."

Deciding that nothing he could say would make the situation any less confusing, Al kept quiet.

"Of course, you two have always been freakily close. Ever since the day you sat on that stool and I watched your face fall as the hat called 'Slytherin'. It was recent though, wasn't it? Or have I been a terrible older brother and been completely oblivious?"

"You aren't a terrible brother, James," Al murmured, and he stepped forward and sat down on the bed next to him. "I suppose you can be kinda scary at times, but…" He trailed off, but James seemed to understand.

"Well, anyway. It doesn't matter. But seriously, though, Al. How could you let her back on a broom?"

"She's been up hundreds of times on the school brooms! She's not incompetent, you know."

But even as Al talked, there was a crack in his voice, and he stopped talking before he was forced to. He took a deep breath, then continued.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want her to, but both her and Scor are so persuasive. There was nothing I could do to stop her, so I thought if I went along with it I would be able to watch her and make sure she was ok, but then I got distracted-"

James gave a short laugh, but didn't interrupt.

"-and then when I looked back up, she was just gone again. I was panicking, I honestly thought it was happening all over again. James, I was so scared."

Without saying anything, James slipped an arm around Al's shoulder, and the two brothers sat side by side, silent, but knowing that they didn't actually have to say anything for the other to understand.

Xxxxx

When Al appeared in the doorway of the common room five minutes later, Scorpius and Lily's gazes snapped to him immediately.

"What happened? Are you ok?" Scor's voice was filled with concern, and Al hastened to nod.

"It's fine, he's not mad. And Lil, he says he would have leant you the broom if you had asked him in the first place. So next time, don't drag us into it, alright?"

Lily looked suitable repentant and nodded. But then, in typical 'saved by the bell' style, it was just then that two giggling third years clambered through the portrait hole, like Lily wearing Gryffindor red and gold. Lily looked up and grinned, and then called out and left the table to join them. Looking back to Al and Scorpius, Lily mouthed, "Talk to you later," and then disappeared back through the hole with her cronies.

Al shook his head. That girl had a marvellous way of avoiding trouble for someone who seemed to live to cause it. He looked up and caught Scorpius' eye. He was looking at him with his head on one side, a funny expression on his face.

"So. Are you going to tell me?"

Al just looked at him, and then realising it was useless acting oblivious, gave a sigh.

"Ok, but first, I'm starving. Kitchens first, story after."

"How about story on the way to the kitchens?" Scorpius persisted.

"Oh, alright. Come on then."

So the two boys left the Gryffindor common room, with Al thinking vaguely to himself that they possibly spent more time in there than half of the Gryffindors themselves. They made their way down the hall, and Al took a breath and started his tale.

"I was only seven, and Lily was five. Dad had bought her a broom for her birthday, and being Lily she couldn't wait to try it out. Dad had to go to work that afternoon, some big Auror case he was on, and Mum was going to Aunt Hermione's for afternoon tea, to 'Talk about your father and drink some decent coffee', as she put it."

Scorpius sniggered a little here, but let Al continue.

"Teddy was over to babysit, but he was studying for his exams and told us to play quietly. Can you imagine Lily ever playing quietly? But anyway, she was having none of it, and wanted to try out the broom, so she begged me to take her into the backyard so she could fly it. I told her no, of course, but she did the little girl persuasive face, and in the end I figured, what could go wrong? So we went outside into the garden. James was up in his room, and Teddy was in the kitchen and didn't hear us go out."

They had reached the top of the stair case by now, and they went down it slowly, Al still talking, and Scorpius listening with rapt attention.

"I sat down on the grass and watched as Lily mounted the broom and hovered into the air. It wasn't like it was her first time on a broom or anything, Dad had taken her up before, and she'd had a go on mine a couple of times. But this time, she was on her own, and she just kept rising. I yelled at her to come down, but she was laughing her head off and ignored me. I almost ran inside and got Teddy to tell her off, but I didn't fancy being a tell-tale, so I sat back down and watched as she zoomed from one end of the garden to the other, about 10 metres up."

Scorpius was listening with rapt attention, and nodded for Al to go on.

"Well eventually, I got bored with watching and ducked into the shed to get my broom. I thought she'd be safer with me up there too, to keep an eye on her, you know? But thing is, when I came out of the shed with my broom, she was… gone. I didn't hear her yell, or a fall, so I figured she'd just left the garden. I got on my broom and flew up to have a look. I spotted her a couple of houses over, and called out. She came soaring back, laughing and grinning, and then it went wrong."

Scorpius stopped walking and leant against the railing next to the stair case, and Al stopped too. He looked Scorpius in the eye and whispered, "You can guess what happened next, right?"

Scorpius didn't say anything, he just nodded. Al continued.

"Lily was looping around me, being silly and showing off, and I joined in too. Next thing I know, she's lost balance, clinging onto my shoulder for support as her broom rolls sideways. Of course, I didn't have balance enough to support both of us, and I lost control. My broom flew sideways with Lily still clinging on to me, and me holding the broom for dear life. We came down in a heap in the neighbour's garden, and that's all I remember. I woke up on our couch, with Dad leaning over me. There was no sign of Lily."

Al took a deep breath and hung his head.

"Turns out she'd broken and arm and fractured her ankle. Mum had to take her to St Mungo's, and they were back before nightfall. As for me, I'd knocked myself out, and they didn't want to caste an Ennervate until they knew there was no other damage. Aunt Hermione was there, and Uncle Ron, and Teddy, and I remember Rose and Hugo sitting close together on the next couch, sobbing. James was pale and quiet, not at all James-like, and Dad wasn't even angry, just sad. I didn't know why everyone was so upset, I mean everything was fine now."

He leaned back on the railing beside Scorpius, and took another breath in.

"The brooms were repairable, and Dad fixed them the next day. But as soon as I got astride that broom, it hit me. We could have died. There was no way I was getting in the air on that thing. Dad tried everything, but in the end I couldn't get more than a metre above ground without completely flipping out. Dad got me out of lessons at school, and didn't push me to fly again."

He turned to face Scorpius and his expression was so earnest that Scor's heart did a little flipping out of its own.

"I was going to tell you, honest, but it was never the right time. And I guess I felt… well ashamed. It's a stupid fear I should be able to get over, but I can't. I just can't. And that's why I acted that way today. And I am sorry for snapping. It wasn't anything to do with you."

Scorpius looked at the boy in front of him, face closed and eyes down. He thought for a second, and then did the only thing that came to mind, other than going back in time and fixing it all. He stepped forward and kissed him, lips moving against Al's, tongue prising them open. Al kissed back, seeking comfort in every corner of Scorpius' mouth, arms winding around his neck as though to hold himself up. Scorpius held him tight, kissing away the sadness and turning Al's world the right way up again.

When Scorpius stepped away a few minutes later, Al was breathless and smiling again, and Scorpius reached out a hand.

"Kitchens?"

Al took it. "Kitchens."


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Albus woke up with a not-very-comfortable-knee jammed into his back. Further inspection told Al that the knee did, in fact, belong to Scorpius, and that Scorpius was busy taking up three quarters of the bed. Arms flung out to the sides and one leg hooked over Albus, Scorpius had obviously made himself at home. Which was funny, because when Albus had gone to sleep the night before, he was sure Scorpius had been in his own bed.

Scorpius stirred, and turned his head to gaze sleepily at Al.

"Morning, sexy."

Al choked back a laugh and put a hand out to run through Scorpius' dishevelled blond hair.

"Morning yourself. You're quite comfortable?"

A lazy smile spread over Scorpius' face, and he nodded indulgently.

"Your bed looked more comfy than mine. I don't quite know why, but I'm guessing it's because my bed didn't have you in it."

Albus rolled his eyes and made to sit up, but Scorpius tightened his arm around Al's waist and moaned.

"Don't get up. If you get up, I have to get up, and then I'll remember that it's Sunday, and then I'll remember that we have classes tomorrow. Oh great, I've remembered. Thanks, Al."

Albus smiled as Scorpius buried his head in the pillow, and he continued to run a hand through Scorpius' hair. He liked the way it felt, running through his fingertips and falling to lie messily on the pillow. Then he remembered something.

"Scor… I was thinking…"

Scorpius' head emerged from the pillow immediately, and he looked at Al.

"Oh dear. That's never good."

"Shut up," Al retorted with a smile. "But seriously though, you know how Mum and Dad are coming to watch the Quidditch game this week? Do you think, maybe, we should, you know, tell them about… us?"

Scorpius' grey eyes flickered, and he grinned.

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea."

Albus looked at him suspiciously. "Why does that make you so happy?"

Scorpius turned over onto his back, lying back beside Al and taking his hand.

"I don't know. It's just… if you're telling your parents, I guess that means you're serious about this. You're not ashamed to be going out with me… and stuff."

"Why would I be ashamed? Of course I'm serious about this!" Al's voice rang with indignation, and he turned his head to stare at Scor.

"I know, I know! But… it's just good to reaffirm it. It's silly. But I'm glad." Scorpius turned his head and looked into Al's eyes. Al smiled softly. He didn't think he'd ever really understand Scorpius' funny trains of thought, but if it made Scorpius happy then it made him happy.

Leaning in, Al placed a soft kiss on Scorpius' lips, which soon turned into a rather heated snogging session.

They didn't get out of bed for at least another hour.

Xxx

The week from Monday to Wednesday ran smoothly enough, with both boys kept busy with their hectic schedules of classes and homework, and Scorpius with Quidditch practise. When Thursday rolled around, the day of the Quidditch game, Al woke up with a Scorpius-free bed, and a niggling feeling in the back of his head that there was something important he had to do today.

And then he remembered. The day he has to tell his parents he was not only gay, but dating Scorpius Malfoy. He heaved a sigh and rolled over. Maybe if he went back to sleep, he could wake up tomorrow and it would all be over.

His master plan for avoiding the day-that-was didn't start out too well, as a Scorpius-shaped lump flung itself at his bed and rolled him over, waking him up fully with a forceful kiss and a shout of, "Wake up, Al, it's the big day!"

Albus groaned. He had been trying to forget that fact.

_Still, _he thought to himself, _this time tomorrow, it will be all over, you'll have told them, and they will be fine with it, and Slytherin will have beaten Ravenclaw in today's game, and you will have Scorpius Malfoy as your boyfriend, and you will live happily ever after._

Repeating this inner mantra to himself, he pulled himself out of bed and followed Scorpius as he fairly skipped into the bathroom. Scorpius was always this way before a Quidditch match. Nervous energy, Al figured.

Try as he might, Al couldn't quite see what Scorpius had to be so happy about. Still, he reasoned, it's not like Scorpius had the added weight of telling his parents about them yet. Of course, he would have to tell them sometime, but Al was willing to bet that the consequent conversation with his father, the forever regal and imposing Draco Malfoy, was one Scorpius would put off for as long as possible.

Showered and dressed, Albus shut the door of the dormitory with a click and followed Scorpius down the stairs. Making their way to the great hall, they were greeted with various shouts of encouragement and good-luck wishes from their house-mates to Scorpius, and which did nothing to settle the nerves in Albus' stomach. The food set out on the tables in the Great Hall looked delicious as always, but Al seemed to have lost his appetite.

"Come on, Al, you have to eat something! I'm meant to be the nervous one!" Scorpius tried to shove a piece of toast into Al's mouth, but only succeeded in missing and getting him in the nose. Al gave a snort of laugher, and Scorpius had the decency to look repentant, but grinned at Al all the same and reached up to wipe the smear of jam off Al's nose. Al looked gingerly down at the offending piece of toast, and took a small bite.

Fifteen minutes and three bites of toast later, Al waved goodbye to Scorpius as he was dragged away by his teammates. He made his way down to the pitch with Rose, looking warily up at the steadily darkening sky. Clouds had rolled in during breakfast and he thought, distractedly, how very accurately the clouds were reflecting his mood. Rose sighed and looked up too.

"I hope it doesn't rain. They won't cancel the game, and I don't fancy standing out in a downpour."

Al just nodded. He had other things on his mind.

They found seats in the stands and sat down, and Al looked around at the sea of blue and felt slightly traitorous for not wearing more green. Rose, of course, would be supporting Ravenclaw and she was sporting a blue headband for the occasion. Although, Albus thought, he was feeling a little green…

Looking down, Al caught sight of a slender, blond-haired figure, waving maniacally from the pitch below. He waved back, if somewhat half-heartedly, and then the whistle blew and the game began.

To be fair, Albus didn't remember much of the game. Slytherin won, anyway. The sea of green flags and scarves went wild, and Albus joined in with the cheering. Rose looked a bit miffed, but smiled at Al and said, "Scor played well, didn't he?"

Al nodded his agreement, and then he heard a shout.

"Al! Come down, Mum and Dad are here!"

He turned around to see Lily bobbing away through the crowd, and his stomach dropped. It was time.

"Come on, Al, I'll come and say hello to Uncle Harry and Aunty Ginny." Rose grabbed his wrist and dragged him off through the crowd. They pushed through the masses of students and then located Lily, who they could still see bobbing through the throng. The followed her, and managed to locate his parents.

They were standing just under one of the stands, where a few other parents and students were standing talking, or getting ready to leave. His mum waved at him and smiled, and when he came over his dad clapped him on the back and gave him a grin.

"Hi, Al. How's it going? Good game!"

Al smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, the team's really great this year."

They talked like this, about Quidditch and school work and exams, whereupon James arrived with a girl in tow. Albus recognised her as a Gryffindor prefect he'd seen around school. Now that he thought about, it was mostly in association with James…

Al's father raised his eyebrows. "Hello James, and who's this?" He held a hand out for the girl to shake.

"Uh, this is Jane. She's my uh… we're friends." James replied, sounding ever so slightly tongue-tied.

Lily gave a snort of laughter, and Harry shot Al a knowing look. His mum put a hand out to Jane as well. "Nice to meet you Jane, friend of James."

Jane laughed and shook Ginny's hand, and replied, "Lovely to meet you too, Mrs Potter."

"So, Al, you haven't gone and got a girlfriend as well have you?"

There was a short silence, and then the whole group began talking at once.

James stammered out, "I never said she was my-"

And Jane cut in with, "Oh come on, James, they're fine with it!"

Rose quickly looked at her watch and cried, "Oh, it's getting on, do you think we should go in?"

Lily, trying to help the cause, burbled something inane about her Transfiguration homework.

And the heavens opened up, and it started to rain. Al looked around him. It was now or never.

"I'm dating Scorpius Malfoy."

There was an immediate hush over the little group.

"And I'm gay."

Still, silence.

And then Lily muttered, "You probably should have said those the other way round. You know, cause the first one kind of makes the second one redundant."

As though Lily had broken some sort of flood-gate, everyone started talking again. James began to explain how Scorpius was a "really nice kid", with Jane whole-heartedly agreeing. Rose began to explain how Scorpius was really clever, and how he even beat her in Potions last week. Lily, as though pressed for a topic, continued with her Transfiguration homework story.

In the middle of it all, Al just stood and looked at his parents. His father was looking a little shocked, but then, slowly, a smile spread over his face. He held up a silencing hand to the little group, and spoke.

"Well, Al, I can't say I was expecting that. But you're my son, and I love you, and if he makes you happy, well that's brilliant. I know that Scorpius Malfoy is, as James put it, a nice kid. I know, Rose, that he is very clever. And I know, Lily, that you cannot transfigure a lemon into a tea-cosy without quite a bit of practise, so keep trying. Is that everyone happy?"

Al didn't know what to say. The weight in the pit of his stomach had lifted, and he allowed a slow smile to creep onto his face. Then he stole a glance at his mother. And then the weight was back.

"Oh, Al…" Ginny was standing with her hands twisted together, face blank. Her eyes met his, and Al saw something he was not expecting to see.

Disappointment.

Harry spoke. "Now, Ginny, you know he's not like his father, and the war made us all do some terrible things-"

Before he could finish though, Ginny cut him off.

"It's not that. I just- I need some time to think, ok?"

And with that, she turned and walked away. James cast a sorry look at Al, and then turned and followed his mother out of the stadium.

"Mum, wait, can't you just…" His voice faded away in the throng of people.

Harry reached out a hand to Al's shoulder, his face worried.

"It'll be ok, Al. I'll talk to her. She's just a bit surprised."

Al nodded, not really hearing.

After a second Harry turned away, giving Al's shoulder one last squeeze, then disappeared after his wife and eldest son. Lily didn't look at Al, but hurried after her father and slipped a hand into his as they walked.

Al looked at Rose, who shook her head. "I'm sorry, Al. Shall we go back up to the school? Find Scorpius?"

Al tried for a smile, but failed miserably. "You go. I'll be up in a minute."

Rose opened her mouth again, ready to argue, but Al cut in with, "It's fine, really, I just want to be alone for a bit."

Rose shook her head again, but turned away to walk back up to the school.

Al heaved a sigh, and then realised he was still not alone. Jane was standing by his side, prefect badge gleaming on her chest, and a look on her face of pure concern and empathy.

"Albus, I'm sorry. I know I don't know you very well… At all actually. But you seem like a really decent person, and so do the rest of your family, and I know from experience that things always seem worse when they're happening."

Al nodded and looked away, not wanting to listen. He felt a warm hand on his arm and then Jane spoke again.

"It'll all be ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not yet the end."

Meeting her gaze at last, Al managed to crack a small, but real, smile. Jane just nodded, and then she, too, turned and walked away.

Al was left standing alone under the Quidditch stands. Cold, shaken, but with Jane's words rolling around in his head, he didn't feel as bad as he decided he should have. And that was ok. Because, at the end of the day, he had Scorpius. And that was almost enough, all on its own.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get another part up! :( I've been moving house, boxes galore etc... *excuses excuses* but here it is! It does feature an OC, but I hope you'll like her. I did promise someone. ;) As always, reviews are always appreciated. Much love to you all! xx<strong>

**ps. I'm estimating 2 more chapters for this fic. Ish. Don't hold me to that! **


	8. Chapter 8

Albus stood there for what seemed to him only a few seconds, but the amount of water absorbed by his clothes indicated otherwise. With a sigh, he began the long walk back up to the school. Head down and eyes on the ground, he didn't notice Scorpius until he was almost upon him.

Coming from the direction of the school, Scorpius was wrapped in a cape and carrying an umbrella, and Al looked up just in time to avoid walking into him.

"Wrapped up in your own world as usual?" Scorpius grinned at him, and then caught the expression on Al's face. "What's the matter?"

"Let's just say it didn't go as well as I had hoped."

Scorpius frowned for a minute, and then stepped forward give Al the benefit of the umbrella, and wipe the rain from his cheeks.

"Was it awful?"

"It's only Mum. Dad was fine, but Mum… She said she 'needed some time to think' or something… whatever that means. I know what it means. It means she doesn't even want to look at me, it means she's disappointed in me, it means-"

"-It means that you are clearly soaked to the skin and probably starving, and that your mother will come around in her own time. It also means that you should shut up and come back to the school with me and get some dry clothes."

Al couldn't find the energy to argue with that. Instead he slipped a hand into the one Scorpius offered him, and allowed himself to be led up the path.

"Good game by the way. You were amazing."

Scorpius smiled at him. "I was, wasn't I?"

And Al couldn't help but laugh.

The front steps with Al presently found himself climbing were slippery and wet, and both boys were relieved when they finally stepped into the shelter of the main entrance. Students and teachers were milling around, and Al and Scorpius were pushed together in the throng of people.

They managed to escape the fray and Al looked up as he heard his name called. Rose was waving at them from half way up the stair case, and they headed over to her. They managed to make it to the stair case and were on their way up when there was a shout.

"Oi, fags, get a room!"

Scorpius whipped round to see a burly Ravenclaw boy looking up at them, a smirk playing on his face.

"What did you say?" Scorpius' tone was icy, and Al was thankful he wasn't on the end of it.

"I said, get a room. You're making the place look untidy." The boy continued to smirk as he swaggered to the bottom of the staircase, and Scorpius gripped Al's hand tighter.

"Yes, I did hear it the first time, thank you. I was just giving you a chance to take it back."

By this time the people closest to the stand-off had fallen silent, and people on the other side of the room were beginning to look, sensing a fight brewing.

"Why would I want to take it back? It's true. You're a couple of fags and you seem to like flaunting it." The boy showed no signs of backing down, but neither did Scorpius.

Stepping down to the bottom step, Scorpius still held the height advantage over the Ravenclaw. He looked down his nose at him and gave him a stare filled with contempt, and the boy stepped closer and tilted his head up to stare right back at Scorpius. Al's immediate instinct was to grab at Scor's arm and pull him away, but people were staring now.

After a few seconds, the Ravenclaw took a small step backward, and Al was flooded with relief at the sight of him appearing to back down. Backing down, however, didn't seem to be on the cards. Not breaking eye contact with Scorpius for a single moment, the boy leaned forward and, very deliberately, spat on Scorpius' shoes.

In an instant Scorpius had drawn his wand, but before he could do anything, a hex was thrown from somewhere on the other side of the room. The boy seemed to be yanked up by his ankle, and hung upside down in full view of the crowded room. There were titters of laughter and appreciating, but just as quickly he was dropped again and was on his feet in an instant, wand drawn.

Al's position on the staircase gave him a full view of the people in the room, and he scanned the crowd to see who it had come from. Standing right at the back, neatly slipping her wand back into her pocket, stood Ginny. He stared at her in disbelief. She gave him a small smile and then walked out of the room.

The room had been thrown into chaos, with Scorpius throwing hex after hex at the boy, before being forcefully restrained by one of the professors. The burly Ravenclaw attempted to throw a punch before a Gryffindor prefect grabbed him by the arm and pushed him against a wall. Students were thrown back into life, all trying to look as though they had nothing to do with it, leaving the stairwell as quickly as they could manage.

Scorpius was led away by Professor McGonagall, with the prefect hauling the Ravenclaw along behind. Scorpius threw Al a wink as he was pulled away, and Al smiled. There was nothing he could do for Scorpius now, so he made him way to the Slytherin dorms. He just hoped, for Scorpius' sake, that McGonagall was in a good mood.

When he appeared back in the common room half an hour later, Scorpius was looking rather pleased for himself. Al looked up from his book as he sauntered over, and gave him a questioning look.

"Everything okay? You're not in too much trouble?"

Scorpius made a scoffing noise. "Trouble? Me? Never. McGonagall said I was provoked, so I couldn't be entirely blamed for standing up for myself. However, she did give me a week's worth of detention for throwing the hexes around, one of which hit Mrs Norris and gave her the cat version of pustulating boils. Apparently it wasn't pretty."

Albus gave a snort of laughter and moved over in the arm chair so Scorpius could squeeze in beside him. Scorpius leaned over and places a kiss on Al's mouth, and Al grinned. Then he remembered something.

"Scor?"

"Mm?"

"You know the first hex that hit that Ravenclaw? The one that turned him upside down?"

Scorpius cut in, "Oh that was brilliant! It wasn't you was it? You didn't even have your wand out, and I've never seen a hex like it before!"

"That's the thing, I have. And I know who cast it."

He paused, and Scorpius nudged him hard in the ribs. "Go on, then!"

"That hex was popular back when my granddad was at school, I remember Dad telling me about it."

"So you're saying that your granddad came back from the dead to hex that git for having a go at his grandson's boyfriend?" Scorpius joked.

With a wry smile, Albus continued. "No, but there are people left that know about it. My parents, for instance."

There was a silence while Scorpius seemed to process this latest information.

"So, you're saying your Dad, Harry Potter, hexed some idiot for spitting on my shoe?"

"No. But my Mum did."

Scorpius stared in awe at Al for a second, and then a grin began to grow on his face.

"Oh, that lady is brilliant. She has to teach me that hex, it might come in useful…"

"You're not really getting the point, Scor. My _mother _hexed him. The same mother that, not an hour ago, seemed so disappointed that I was gay in the first place."

With a wry smile Scorpius looped an arm around Al's waist and tipped his head onto his shoulder.

"People come around, Al. Get used to it."

Al nodded and leant his head on top of Scorpius', and closed his eyes. He was pushed away suddenly as Scorpius leapt up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Al called.

"To get parchment and a quill. I need to write a letter to your mother."

"What saying?"

Scorpius grinned, "Thanks, cheers, much appreciated etc etc. And also how lucky I am to be dating her son."

Al grinned back. "So, you're sucking up to her, basically?"

Scorpius gave him a wink, and then vanished out of the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the wait, this chapter has been a long time coming! I'm thinking there will be one more chapter after this one, as we still need to find out what was running through Ginny's mind in all of this! :) Hope you enjoy it, reviews would be lovely. xx -K<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Ooh, note at A/N at the start this time! Thought I'd switch it up a bit, you know, keep you on your toes. ;) No, just kidding. It just seemed to work better here. Thank you for sticking it out till the end, I have been a bit lax with these updates, I'm sorry! I hope this makes up for it. Leave me a little review if you like! Or a big one, you choose. Much love to you all! :) xx -K**

* * *

><p>Ginny Potter looked up from her mug of tea at the sound of an insistent tapping on the kitchen window. A bedraggled looking owl stood on the sill, soaked through and attempting to shelter from the torrential downpour that had unleashed itself earlier that morning, and not let up since.<p>

It was two days after the match at Hogwarts, Saturday morning, and Ginny's head was a little clearer. She'd had time to think, and had come to some sort of reluctant conclusion. Albus was entitled to love whomever he liked, and if that person was Scorpius Malfoy, then so be it.

The decision had not come about through lack of thinking, however, and Ginny rubbed her still-tired eyes, and regretted not staying in bed for a while longer. Three hours of sleep was simply not enough to comfortably get by on, but there was no helping that now.

She stood up from the table and opened the window and the owl flew inside at once, cocking its head appreciatively. Taking the letter gently from the owl's beak, she tore open the plain white envelope and started to read.

_Dear Mrs Potter,_

_I would like to thank you for what you did on Thursday. In any other circumstance I would be unwilling to let people fight my battles for me, but what you did was both helpful and hilariously funny. I hope this means that you give Albus and I your blessing, because in all honesty, I don't know what I would do without Al. Your son is absolutely fantastic, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that. _

_I can promise you that I'll love him as much and probably more as any girl, and that I will do my best to make him happy. I know that, at such a young age, it is foolish to promise further ahead than the foreseeable future, but I really do think that I will love him for as long as I live. It would mean a great deal to me, and to Al, if you would accept us as a couple._

_Thank you once again, both for hexing that Ravenclaw and for raising such a brilliant son._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Scorpius Malfoy_

Ginny felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she read through the letter. When she had finished, she placed it down on the table and leaned back in her chair. The door swung open and a sleepy looking Harry entered the kitchen, taking up position against the counter on one side of the room.

"Morning, Gin. Did you sleep ok? I woke up to an empty bed this morning."

Ginny sighed. "Not really. I couldn't stop thinking about Al…"

"Look, Gin, I really do think you need to-"

But Ginny cut him off. "I know, I need to accept it. And I think I have. After two night's tossing and turning over it, I think I've come to terms with it."

Harry looked a little taken aback.

"Really? But I thought-"

But he didn't get very far before Ginny cut in again.

"Scorpius Malfoy, I am pleased to say, does not bare much resemblance to his father at that age, apart from his looks. Draco was, and probably still is, a right git. As well as Draco, I cannot forgive Lucius for what he did concerning Tom Riddle's diary, but that doesn't mean I should take it out on his grandson. Besides, Lucius is dead and buried, along with the past. We shouldn't keep turning it over. If Al likes him, he can't be all bad."

Harry nodded slowly.

"So, the reason you flipped out a little back there was because you thought Scorpius was like Draco?"

Ginny hung her head a little, and nodded. "It was wrong to assume, I know."

Harry smiled affectionately. "I can see why you did though. And the important thing now is that you let Albus know that he needn't worry any longer."

Ginny nodded and then held Scorpius' letter out to Harry. "This came this morning. It did make me smile, I have to admit."

Harry took the letter and read it over, smiling broadly by the end of it.

"Well, you needn't fear Scorpius is anything like Draco. This letter pretty much says it all."

Ginny laughed and stood up, putting her now empty tea mug into the sink.

"I'll write back, and I'll also write to Al and let him know that I'm sorry."

Harry nodded and moved from his position at the counter to one of the chairs around the table.

"That's a good idea." And as Ginny made to leave to fetch a piece of parchment and a quill, he smiled. "I'm proud of you, Gin."

Ginny just pulled a face and slipped out of the door. Her head appeared back around it a second later, and there was a devilish glint in her eye.

"Oh and Harry, at least now you're not the only one who had an obsession with a Malfoy."

As she disappeared around the door again, Harry yelled after her.

"That was one year, Gin! One year! And he really was up to something, in case you'd forgotten!"

Halfway down the hallway, Ginny grinned to herself.

* * *

><p>Sprawled out on the rug in front of the Slytherin common room fireplace, Al and Scorpius had grown bored of their game of chess and were now lying on their sides, gazing into the flames. It had been a pretty boring Saturday, filled with restless indoor energy from not being allowed outside due to the rain, and the energy had been put to use on quite a lot of kissing where Al and Scorpius were concerned. It was evening now, and for no apparent reason Scorpius was feeling pretty content with life as he knew it.<p>

Students were scattered around the room, playing repeated games of exploding snap and, when chess grew boring, placing the pieces in opposing squares just to watch them destroy each other.

Scorpius was watching Al out of the corner of his eye, taking in the way his lips were slightly parted and his eyes grew sleepy as he watched the flames dance. As he watched, Al opened his mouth wider as if to say something, and then closed it again.

"What?"

Al jumped slightly. "What, what?"

"You were going to say something, I know it."

With a wry smile, Al replied, "Not much gets past you, does it."

Grinning, Scorpius shook his head.

Al sighed. "I dunno, I was just thinking…"

"Oh no, that's never good," Scorpius teased.

Al reached a hand across and slapped his arm gently, and Scorpius caught it and placed a kiss on the back of his knuckles. Al blushed furiously but didn't pull his hand away.

His eyes flicked to the letter on the low table beside the rug, and Scorpius reached for it. His eyes scanned it for the umpteenth time this afternoon, and he smiled at Al.

"You can stop worrying, you know. There's no hidden meaning in it. She's fine with it, it's fine, we're fine, everything's fine."

Al smiled and rolled onto his back. "No, I'm not worried. I was just thinking how well things turned out, considering."

Scorpius smirked. "What, considering you're dating a Malfoy?"

Al laughed. "Yeah, something like that."

There was a short pause, and then Scorpius said, "We should write a book."

Rolling back onto his side, a quizzical expression on his face, Al looked at Scorpius. "A book? What about?"

"We could call it, The Albus and Scorpius Guide for Telling People."

Al laughed out loud, and then reached forward to flick a piece of fringe out of Scorpius' eyes.

"But then everyone would know our secrets."

"True. Maybe someday, then. When we're old and grey and still madly in love, we'll write that book. That way everyone will know our story. Everyone will know how much I love you."

Albus, for not the first time in his time knowing Scorpius Malfoy, didn't know what to say.

He swallowed thickly and nodded, his cheek moving against the rug, body warm from the fire.

"Yeah, Scor. We'll write that book."

And do you know what?

They did.


End file.
